Indictment against Turkish comedian Demirci accepted by Ankara court

An Ankara court on Wednesday accepted an indictment against Turkish comedian Atalay Demirci, who was arrested in August 2016 over his alleged links with the Gülen group, which is accused by Turkish authorities of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

The indictment, drafted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, seeks a consecutive life sentence and an additional jail sentence of up to 10 years for the comedian on coup charges.

In the indictment, Twitter messages between Demirci and former Turkish football player Hakan Şükür and Enes Kanter, a Turkish basketball player in the NBA, who are also accused of having links to the Gülen group, are cited as evidence for Demirci’s links to the Gülen movement.

The group denies any involvement in the coup attempt. (turkeypurge.com) May 18, 2017